The invention relates to a tool mounting device with which tools, for example a compacting device for compacting earth, can be mounted onto an excavator arm.
In addition to the shovel, excavator arms frequently have a wide variety of tools attached to them, for example chisels or compactors. A conventional excavator arm and the attaching device with which the tool is attached to the excavator arm have certain dimensions, which are relatively large, particularly in large excavators.
In tasks where space is limited, for example when working in narrow trenches or shafts as is frequently the case in pipeline construction, it is difficult to use these relatively large excavators because the excavator arm or the tool attaching device are too wide to be lowered into the trench or the shaft. This problem can in fact be solved by widening the trench or shaft so that the excavator arm can work in it, but this represents an excessive and costly amount of effort.
This is why the prior art, for example DE 100 49 552 C1, has disclosed mounting devices with which a tool can be fastened to the excavator arm at a certain distance. These mounting devices have smaller dimensions than the excavator arm or the conventional attaching devices so that these mounting devices and a correspondingly small tool can be used for work in narrow trenches or shafts.
The tool mounting devices that have been known up till now have the disadvantage that the excavator must always be aligned in a particular direction, for example parallel to or flush with the trench or shaft in order to allow the tool attached to the mounting device to be used for work in the narrow trench or shaft. This is very disadvantageous in roadwork in which the construction vehicles frequently have only a small amount of space in which to move.